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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26770528">All For Nothing</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stuartette/pseuds/Stuartette'>Stuartette</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fallout 4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Blood, Blood and Gore, Blood and Injury, Character Death, Explicit Language, F/F, Flashbacks, Gen, Gun Violence, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Mild Gore, Military, Military Background, Minor Character Death, Post-Nuclear War, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 03:47:43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,273</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26770528</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stuartette/pseuds/Stuartette</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A husband, father and former marine wakes up to a whole new world, just trying to find his son and avenge his wife. The world has other plans.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Female Sole Survivor/Piper Wright, Nora/Male Sole Survivor, Robert Joseph MacCready/Male Sole Survivor, Robert Joseph MacCready/Sole Survivor</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>All For Nothing</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm still trying to get used to all the formatting and italicization, so please excuse any errors.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Should we take this outside?”<br/>
Dean stood on the lateral wall in the short hallway that lead to the “VIP” room, as the crude sign above the entrance displayed. He didn't exactly know why he’s sneaking, it just came like instinct and he followed.<br/>
“But you’re still taking jobs in the Commonwealth. That isn’t going to work for us.”<br/>
<i>Jobs? Us? Is this an organization, a group?<i> Dean added that to his mental list, maybe they took Shaun.<br/>
“I don’t take orders from you..not anymore.”<br/>
<i>A defector. But of what?<i><br/>
“So why don’t you take your girlfriend and walk out of here while you still can.”<br/>
<i>Big talk, let’s hope you can compensate.<i><br/>
“What?! Winlock, tell me we don’t have to listen to this shit..” A different voice butted in.<br/>
“Listen up MacCready. The only reason we haven’t filled your body full of bullets is that we don’t want a war with Goodneighbor.”<br/>
<i>Firepower. Must be a militaristic group- or some rag-tag team of shit lackeys.<i><br/>
“See, we respect other people’s boundaries… we know how to play the game.”<br/>
<i>And what game is that? What are you planning?<i><br/>
“Glad to have disappointed you.”<br/>
<i>Sharp tongue. Witty kid.<i><br/>
“You can play tough guy all you want. But if we hear you’re still operating inside Gunner territory, all bets are off. You got that?”<br/>
<i>Gunners. Must have big firepower. And presence if you have territory.</i></i></i></i></i></i></i></i></i></i></i></i></i></p><p>
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</p><p>The conversation was over, and two pairs of boots stomped their way over to the exit. He saw the guy named Barnes, and gave him a sarcastic smile. Barnes sneered in response, but didn’t notice the boot that jutted out in front of him. Barnes tripped, nearly flopping his whole weight on the ground.<br/>
Decent reflexes. I’ll take note.<br/>
Barnes responded with restrained anger. His hand reached for his side, for a knife or pistol no doubt.<br/>
“Have a good one.” Dean nodded his head and smiled.<br/>
All the duo did was grumble and stomp off. Dean put the back of his hand to his mouth to muffle his laughter. It’s glorious to see douchebags and pricks with a bruised ego.<br/>
Once they passed, he headed deeper inside and walked up to the man that just gotten done with an interrogation with dumb and dumber.<br/>
“Look, man. If you’re preaching about the Atom, or looking for a friend, you’ve got the wrong guy. If you need a hired gun… then maybe we can talk.”<br/>
“Adam?” Dean stumbled over his words, “-Nevermind. Why don’t you tell me who those guys were first.”<br/>
“A couple of morons looking to climb the ladder of success by stepping on everyone else on the way up.” The guy with an attitude scoffed with a scowl. “Shouldn’t be surprised though, that’s how it goes when you run with the Gunners.”<br/>
“Gunners. That’s the second time I’ve heard that name now, wanna tell me who they are?” Dean ended while crossing his arms, purely out of habit.<br/>
“Dunno what rock you crawled out from under, but they’re one of the biggest gangs in the commonwealth. Got a rep for being crazy… you know, so tightly wound, you’d think they were a cult or something.” He ended his sentence with bitter words. “Stuck with them for a while cause the money was good, but never really fit in. That’s why I made a clean break and started flying solo. Now what about you? How do I know I won’t end up with a bullet in my back?”<br/>
“Are you always this suspicious?” Dean retorted. Maybe he could get some more information from him.<br/>
“I’ll tell you what, Price is 250 caps… up front. And there’s no room for bargaining. What do you say?”<br/>
“Don’t suppose you take a check?” Dean joked.<br/>
“Unless a "check" is how you say "250 caps" around your neck of the woods, I'm afraid you're out of luck.”<br/>
“Stop nipping, it was a joke.” He replied distractedly. He counted out the caps, and he increasingly felt ridiculous. “Damn I miss debit cards.” he whispered, and no doubt the mercenary wondered what the hell he walked into.<br/>
“You just bought yourself an extra gun.” He confirmed once his caps were all cozy and his. “All right, boss… let’s get out of here.”<br/>
“Nuh-uh, not going out right now. Meet you here at 04- er 4’o’clock tomorrow?”<br/>
“At night?” He confirmed with question written on his face.<br/>
“No, in the morning.”<br/>
“Well, alright then. You’re the boss.” You could tell he wasn’t too thrilled about the timing.<br/>
“Alright, 7? Is that late enough?” Dean compromised, seeing that his new ‘gun’ didn’t love the idea of being up at the crack of dawn.<br/>
“I never said I had an issue.” Maccready argued.<br/>
“Well alright then, 4 tomorrow, up and ready, right here. ‘Night.” And with that Dean was off, presumably to go try and find a bed to sleep in. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>He was 10 minutes late. Dean checked his pip-boy incessantly. A yawn turned Dean’s head, his arm still bent in front of him.<br/>
“Morning Sleeping Beauty.”<br/>
“Yea yea, I know I’m late.” Maccready said as he smoothed the hair under his cap. Dean just chuckled and reassured that it was okay. </p><p> </p><p>Dean was ready to leave the front gate of Goodneighbor, but he stopped suddenly. Maccready almost walked right into him. Dean checked the clip on his rifle, then his pistol. His pistol was considerably different, obviously higher quality and a different paint job. Looked like something you’d find in a pre-war military base.<br/>
“Cleared the mutants out front yesterday. Don’t know their numbers so stay alert.” Maccready confirmed with a hum as he got his rifle out, but not with nearly enough feverency.<br/>
“So what are the Gunner’s origin?” Dean questioned, releasing a question that had been burning a hole in his skull since yesterday.<br/>
“They don’t really have an HQ.” Maccready responded with a shrug.<br/>
“No, who did they come from? What’s their history of origination?”<br/>
“Heck if I know. Why do you care?”<br/>
“Well the term ‘Gunner’ was a military position in the United States Military.”</p><p> </p><p>It was a short walk to the park street station from Goodneighbor. They had some interference from ghouls in the cemetery, but they were quickly dispatched. They walked towards the entrance to the station before MacCready nearly jumped out of his skin.<br/>
“Woah, this is the commons. Are you looking to get killed?”<br/>
“We are going into a train station, we’ll be fine.” Dean punctuated each word with frustration.<br/>
The discussion was discarded and they walked through the double doors. They were met with the sound of chattering between triggermen. Dean squinted from the top of the escalating stairs that were centuries dead. He surveyed the room the best he could from his position and then turned to Maccready and put up a 4 with his fingers accompanied by a silent ‘4’ mouthed along. Dean’s companion nodded and they traversed the stairs with diligence. Dean crouched next to the right wall and Maccready sat perched at the middle of the stairs to the left. Dean signaled with 1 finger to the right and the left. He switched to two fingers and pointed to the middle of the room. He then pointed to Maccready and pointed to the right, then to himself and pointed to the left and turned his finger around to the middle of the room ahead of them.<br/>
A bullet from Maccready’s rifle initiated the fight. One bullet and the man’s head was in pieces. The remaining triggermen yelped and yelled to the others. Dean pulled a grenade from his belt and threw it into the middle of the room with a hefty toss. That put down at least one. Dean took a few shots with his shitty rifle at the man behind the counter. He bumbled out of the door like an idiot when he heard the initial shots from Dean and he took the opportunity to make his executing shots. Another triggerman rounded the corner and came into play and Dean whispered a sharp curse while he took his shots.<br/>
The last man standing among them stood there looking at the carnage. He held a gun with shaky hands. Dean took his shot and the man was down. He walked over and used his knife to finish the job.<br/>
They both made their way down the stairs until Dean stopped at a scale. It was obviously a trap due to its crude and visible wiring. Dean scoffed and shook his head and went to disarming it. They continued their path and took down the remaining triggermen in the dilapidated train tunnels.<br/>
He was doing fine. He was surprised that the sound of gunfire didn’t set him off yet. But a shot to the chest did. His vest was there to protect him. He’d have a hell of a bruise and maybe a cracked rib but nothing too bad. It hurt like hell but that’s not what made him see stars. </p><p>	His face met the snow as he fell forward. His teammate fell with him. Blood stained the snow, everything hurt in every way possible and there was noise coming from nearly every direction. </p><p> </p><p>	MacCready tapped his bosses shoulder. He looked like he had seen a ghost and his hands were scratching at the metal beneath them.<br/>
“Boss?”<br/>
Dean responded with a startled string of inhales. His eyes were wide and they rapidly flew around scanning the room. Sweat dripped along his now pale skin and he stuttered trying to regain his barings. “You okay?”<br/>
“Shit,” he said with a pained exhale. “Uh- yea, I’m fine.” MacCready didn’t buy it, but it wasn’t his place to question.<br/>
“Need a hand?”<br/>
“No no, I got it.” Dean got up with a groan and with significantly less coordination than usual. When he stood at full height he rolled his shoulders and bent down to grab his rifle. “Let’s go.”<br/>
They continued through the incomplete vault. Maccready didn’t know what his intentions for being here were, but again, it wasn’t his place to question. </p><p> </p><p>	“How ya doin’ in there valentine?” A dumb voice mocked. He wore the same attire like the rest of the triggermen, so it wasn't hard to figure out if he were a hostile or not. Dean pointed to the goon at the top, and MacCready took his signal to take the man out. He was quickly dispatched and the two jogged up the stairs and Dean started picking through the pockets of the dead guy.<br/>
“Hey, you. I don’t know who you are, but we got three minutes before they realize muscles-for-brains ain’t coming back. Get this door open.” A voice called out. Dean picked the password out of the pockets he was going through and went to unlock the door.<br/>
“Ah, my knight-in-shining-armor. The question is, why does he come all this way, risk life and limb, for an old private eye?” The bot lights up a cigarette.<br/>
Dean’s eyes skirted to look to his left, putting the merc in his peripheral, “I need help with something.” he said ominously.<br/>
“Is that it?”<br/>
“My wife’s been killed and my son kidnapped. I need to find the motherfucker and tear him limb from limb.” He ended with a clenched jaw and fists.<br/>
“So, you need a little angel of vengeance, huh? Well, I don’t usually go after blood money, but I guess I can make an exception. I’ve been cooped up in here for-”<br/>
“Nuh-uh-uh, don’t care,” he shushed with a finger up. “I’m getting you out of here and back to diamond city.”<br/>
“Gonna be like that? Alright.”</p><p> </p><p>	“What’re you doin’? You come into my house. Shoot up my guys. You have any idea how much this is gonna set me back?” A man in a dirty suit greeted.<br/>
“I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for your two-timing dame, Skinny. You ought to tell her to write home more often.” Valentine threw back.<br/>
“Awww… poor little Valentine. Ashamed you got beat up by a girl? I’ll just run back home to daddy, shall I?” A woman with nothing but a plain baseball bat and beat up sequin dress mocked with a shrively voice.<br/>
“Should’ve left it alone, Nicky. This ain’t the old neighborhood. In this vault, I’m king of the castle, you hear me? And I ain’t lettin’ some private dick shut us down now that I finally got a good thing goin’!”<br/>
“I told you we should’ve just killed him, but then you had to get all sentimental! All that crap about the ‘old times’.” The shrively woman yelled.<br/>
“Darla, I’m handling this! Skinny Malone’s always got things under control!”<br/>
“Oh yea, then what’s this guy doing here, huh? Valentine must have brought him here to rub us all out!” Darla motioned over to Deean.<br/>
He walked up to Malone, real close and towered over him and looked down. “Look, you're going to let us go or I’m going to slaughter you all and enjoy every damn second of it.” Dean threatened Malone. He pointed to Darla without removing his eyes from Malone. “Don’t think she’s exempt from this.”<br/>
Skinny groaned in frustration, “Fine! You get to the count of ten!”<br/>
Dean patted him on the shoulder, “Smart man.”</p><p> </p><p>The three crawled out of the subway tunnel from a manhole, leading them to the surface.<br/>
“So how’d you know where to find me?” The synth asked.<br/>
Dean squinted his eyes at him, “Why do you need to know?”<br/>
“Just wanted to know who to thank.”<br/>
“Let’s go back to Diamond City, I might tell you when we get there.”<br/>
“Ominous.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is my first time actually posting anything. If you have any comments, critiques or suggestions please feel free to respond.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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